Rakhmat Akilov, 39, has admitted to committing a terrorist crime, his lawyer told the court as a remand hearing got under way just after 10am on Tuesday.

The prosecutor was asking the court to remand Akilov, an Uzbek national believed to have symphathized with jihadist groups, in custody. He is suspected of driving a stolen truck into pedestrians on a busy street in central Stockholm before crashing into a department store. Four people were killed and 15 others injured.

Akilov, a construction worker who had been refused permanent residency in Sweden, was arrested several hours after the attack in Märsta, a suburb around 40 kilometres north of central Stockholm.

The Local's reporter Lee Roden was outside the court just before the remand hearing started.

Fairly sizable police presence on Kungsholmen as we await the remand hearing for the prime suspect in the Stockholm truck attack pic.twitter.com/Ms4koUdRgE

Armed police and security guards searched all members of the media before they were allowed to enter the high-security court room. Akilov himself entered with his head bowed and sat with his back to the room. He did not speak as his lawyer Johan Eriksson told the court that he "confesses to a terrorist crime and accepts his custody detention".

The rest of the hearing, during which the court decided to keep Akilov locked up during the investigation, was held behind closed doors.

According to a statement from Sweden's prosecutorial authority the prosecutor will not ask the court to keep another man, who was being held on a lower degree of suspicion of terror crime, detained. However, the man will still remain in custody because of a previous order that he is to be deported, said the authority.

From our sponsors

To describe it as ‘difficult' to find a rental apartment in Sweden would be an understatement. In fact, it can be such a pain that some people give up altogether and move elsewhere. Don't be one of them, here are some tips to help you navigate the Swedish rental market.